Halloween 4 is a terrific entry in the best slasher series of all time. While it doesn't have quite the all-pervading atmosphere, suspense, and general gloom and doom of the incomparable original, it more than lives up to the Halloween tradition. To me, the key to this movie's success is the acting talent of both Donald Pleasance (Dr. Loomis) and young newcomer Danielle Harris (Michael's niece Jamey). Disfigured from his encounter with Michael ten years earlier, Dr. Loomis strides through this movie as the avenging hero he is, having to convince foolish minds that Michael has returned home to wreak havoc yet again. Of course, you can blame a couple of paramedics for tipping Michael off that he still has a living relative, namely his sister Laurie's little girl Jamie (Laurie has supposedly died in an accident a year earlier). After Michael is transferred out from under Loomis' nose, he naturally escapes and begins leaving a trail of bodies on his way to Haddonfield. Loomis is right behind him, intent on saving the little girl from her evil uncle. The young Danielle Harris gives an incredible performance for someone so young, conveying emotion and fear quite convincingly. After this movie came out, I remember hearing some criticism of terrorizing such a young person in this type of horror atmosphere, and Harris spoke quite eloquently on the subject from her perspective. She brings to this movie talent well beyond her years.
Surprisingly, this movie is not altogether that graphic. We rarely get to see the actual coup de grace of each killing (and in a couple of cases we don't even see the actual murder), and even the remains of the slain never exhibit much blood loss. Of course, Michael uses a variety of means (including his bare hands) to murder his victims here. I for one missed the guy's trademark knifings. He does get hold of a knife eventually, but, sadly, he doesn't get much of a chance to use it. As for Michael himself, it is easy to see that the man behind the mask is not the original "shape" Nick Castle. George P. Wilbur has a slightly different build, and he just doesn't have the malevolent presence Castle possessed. He is strong in the category of standing still and watching from the shadows, but he is a little awkward in his movements and often seems to be patterning them on those of King Kong.
This movie has some really nice touches to it, several that strongly call to mind pivotal scenes from the original. Another master stroke is the conclusion, which certainly surprised me when I first saw it. Far too often a trite ending can ruin one's impression of an otherwise good horror movie, but Halloween 4 offers evidence of how much a terrific ending can increase one's enjoyment of an already satisfying experience. By inserting a whole new chapter in the Michael Myers saga, Halloween 4 actually injected the series with newfound life (and blood); it certainly excited me as a fan, and that is something that most sequels of sequels simply do not do.
